State Labour Minister P T Parameshwar Naik on Saturday appealed to the doctors from Banjara community to strive for the welfare of the community.

Addressing the gathering at the two-day ninth annual conference of National Seva Doctors Association (NSDA), Karnataka chapter, an association of doctors from Banjara community, Naik said, “The organisation should work like a non-governmental organisation (NGO) tying up with government schemes. Many thandas (hamlets) are still backward, especially in Hyderabad-Karnataka region. The doctors should visit their hamlets at least once in a fortnight or month and help the needy with required medical facilities.

The doctors should take a cue from a doctor belonging to the community, who travels from Bengaluru to his hamlet once a month with a bag full of medicines to treat the people.”

Naik also gave suggested the community to follow Dr B R Ambedkar’s call, ‘Education, Organisation and Struggle’.

He said that about 56 hamlets in Harapanahalli taluk in Ballari district were being gradually connected with well laid roads, besides other infrastructure facilities.